Stress and Diabetes

Topic Contents

Stress and Diabetes

Topic Overview

Stress can affect your body's
blood glucose levels in two ways.

It can increase hormones that may cause your blood sugar to go up.

It can cause you to change the way you take care of
yourself.

Stress can be mental or physical. Each type of stress causes
a similar chemical reaction in your body. For some people with diabetes,
exercising can offer enough stress release that they do not need to take other
steps. But other people need to try additional ways of managing their
stress.

Controlling emotional stress

Many people have
difficulty controlling emotional stress, which can be brought on by many
situations, such as a fight with a loved one, taking care of an aging parent,
worrying about the future, or a difficult job situation.

Develop
coping strategies that allow you to control how "stressed out" you get. This
can be accomplished in many ways.

For some people, it helps to put the problem in
perspective: Is this problem really that big a deal?

For others,
taking action to fix the problem can reduce stress.

For still
others, removing themselves from the stressful situation is the only way they
can reduce it. This may mean transferring positions in a company or changing
jobs.

Whatever your preferred method for controlling emotional
stress, it may be helpful to seek the advice of professionals. Mental health
professionals, including psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, licensed
counselors, and social workers, can help you recognize the unhealthy ways that
you deal with emotional stress and help you develop more constructive
patterns.

Controlling physical stress

You cannot always avoid
physical stress. At some point you are likely to be ill or experience some type
of injury. In these cases, it is very important to either seek medical
attention or monitor your condition closely. You should also take care not to
overexert yourself.

Health Tools

Health Tools help you make wise health decisions or take action to improve your health.

Actionsets are designed to help people take an active role in managing a health condition.

This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated, disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use . Learn how we develop our content .

Individual and family medical and dental insurance plans are insured by Cigna Health and Life Insurance Company (CHLIC), Cigna HealthCare of Arizona, Inc., Cigna HealthCare of Illinois, Inc., and Cigna HealthCare of North Carolina, Inc. Group health insurance and health benefit plans are insured or administered by CHLIC, Connecticut General Life Insurance Company (CGLIC), or their affiliates (see a listing of the legal entities that insure or administer group HMO, dental HMO, and other products or services in your state). Group Universal Life (GUL) insurance plans are insured by CGLIC. Life (other than GUL), accident, critical illness, hospital indemnity, and disability plans are insured or administered by Life Insurance Company of North America, except in NY, where insured plans are offered by Cigna Life Insurance Company of New York (New York, NY). All insurance policies and group benefit plans contain exclusions and limitations. For availability, costs and complete details of coverage, contact a licensed agent or Cigna sales representative. This website is not intended for residents of New Mexico.

Selecting these links will take you away from Cigna.com to another website, which may be a non-Cigna website. Cigna may not control the content or links of non-Cigna websites. Details